“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” — Potter Stuart

This requires a moral code other than being selfish and following the libertarian philosophy touted by Ayn Rand, which it seems many of today are following.

Ayn Rand is more about the individual and not altruism and thinking that we are the tribe of human beings on a spinning planet where we must all get along and consider the other person’s point of view.

It is not necessary to agree with opposite points of view, we can agree to disagree while we should consider why does that person have their opinion as we have ours.

Is it because of certain life experiences, some trauma in their life, some trauma in our life, a different socioeconomic condition, different level of education, blue or white collar; there may be many reasons for a person’s outlook and philosophy of life and moral code thereby their ethical stand.

Do you think ethics are taught at home? Should ethics be taught in school?

“To me, it really seems visible today that ethics is not something exterior to the economy, which, as technical matter, could function on its own; rather, ethics is an interior principle of the economy itself, which cannot function if it does not take account of the human values of solidarity and reciprocal responsibility.” — Pope Benedict XVI

Is Pope Benedict XVI, right?

Today’s economy is a situation where some of the richest families pay the lowest wages forcing employees to go on food stamps and various government programs which cost taxpayers millions while the families get billion-dollar tax breaks adding to their enormous wealth.

Yes, greed in America is alive and well.

Ethics also contain the truth, not blaming others when they are not at fault, like blaming emigrants for job loss when the reality is automation and technology has cost many jobs that used to be in manufacturing.

Where workers would take days to make a product a robot can do the same in hours without pay, breaks, workers comp, medical benefits and more negotiated in good faith by unions. It is easy to blame others than looking at the root cause of the problem in the cold light of day.

What is morality?

“I have to live for others and not myself; that’s middle-class morality” — George Bernard Shaw

Morality is your moral code, which determines your ethics.

The question for you is, where did your morals come from?

Your parents, friends, church, school, books or somewhere else.

Do consider what is the right thing to do or just do for yourself without regard to the consequences?

Are the consequences of your actions someone else’s responsibility?

Is taking someone’s work and taking credit for it ever okay just because you can make money as happens to authors thereby negating their time, effort, and creativity that they should rightly profit from and not the one who stole/pirated the work of others.

Although, intellectual rights, copyrights, and so-called protections, finding the perpetrator and taking them to court is no easy and expensive, which many others can’t afford.

“Ethics or simple honesty is the building blocks upon which our whole society is based, and business is a part of our society, and it’s integral to the practice of being able to conduct business, that you have a set of honest standards.” — Kerry Stokes

Journalism is supposed to be about facts without interpretation or bias from the journalist.

Today, April 2, 2018, Sinclair Broadcasting issued a memo of copy to be read on over 170 outlets they own decrying all other news as fake news except them.

Today, Journalism turned into an opportunity for propaganda over the truth, if you don’t propagate the owner’s message and slant million-dollar salaries for on-air personalities are in the balance.

It’s a plain case of money over integrity and professional ethics in a society following the Ayn Rand philosophy of being selfish is a good thing like the One Percent, and Corporations in America.

Much of the greed in America, Corporate welfare, and the war on the middle class can be traced to the 1970s and trickle-down economics started by Ronald Reagan in the 1970s who also touted about “Make America Great Again”. Knew I heard it before. Trump and his family don’t display original thinking. Trump is using Reagan’s failed trickle-down economy from the 1970s that didn’t work then and made things worse for the middle class. Since Trump doesn’t read, he is repeating failed history.

Being a septuagenarian, I remember Journalism as something where ethics and integrity were valued. Sadly, it is no longer true since Sinclair Broadcasting who Trump’s Department of Justice allowed to acquire more stations to propagate Trump’s words by stroking the ego of a narcissistic sociopath while anyone whom he doesn’t like is not allowed to acquire other entities., think ATT’s desire to acquire Time-Warner, parent company to CNN News because of Trump’s war on CNN and Jefe Bezos of Amazon because Trump doesn’t like the Washington Post owned by Jeff.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received in my life came from my Grandfather who lived through the Great Depression when he told me, “Don’t believe anything you read or hear, and only half of what you see.”

Due diligence by checking facts from many sources, thinking for yourself you can make truly informed decisions, not what someone wants you to think. More so in today’s environment then ever before in the history of the last 70 years, I have witnessed.

Color me skeptical, but I do not believe words as much as I do actions.

Any entity that claims to be the one true source for your news is automatically suspect in my opinion, an entity moving toward mind control while also trying to dumb you down creating a slave mentality, ultimate control of what the populace thinks rather than living in a land of the free.

Born at the end of WW II, I was an Enlisted ARMY Reservist during the Viet Nam War.

I consider myself a critical free thinker, avid reader of multiple books, and genres. While I am open to listening, you will have to prove it to me with enhanced facts, not conjecture before I am willing to accept a position. I will fact check and do not believe in alternative facts such as Kellie Ann Conway pronounced once on Television. It is impossible to un-hear statements from Presidential Aides.

Do your own work and fact checking to make sure you are thinking for yourself and not listening to talking heads with a message their boss is pushing as propaganda rather than the truth unless you don’t care that your thoughts are being warped by these talking heads.